The recent webinar themed “Driving content growth in West Africa”, hosted by the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) and MDXi, an Equinix company, highlighted their collaborative efforts in driving content growth in West Africa through the newly established Internet Exchange, AMS-IX Lagos.
Keynote speaker, Wouter Ensing, VP, Business Development Manager, AMS-IX, emphasized the importance of establishing a robust connectivity framework to unlock content growth, aggregate demand, and provide wide-reaching access to consumers.
Wouter acknowledged that while some content providers have already deployed locally in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the significant lack of content within the region results in cost inefficiencies, unnecessary latency, and negative impacts on user experience.
To address this challenge, AMS-IX has partnered with MDXi to leverage its rich interconnected ecosystem across the entirety of West Africa to advance the region’s connectivity landscape.
AMS-IX Lagos has been developed as a regional hub to attract content for access within the region.
By creating a network that offers scale to interconnect carriers, internet exchanges, and data centers, AMS-IX Lagos aims to foster growth and advance the region’s connectivity.
Industry experts such as Kendall Ananyi, Founder, Tizeti Networks and Ben Nicklin, Director Network Strategy and Interconnection, Edgio also shared their experiences in a panel session moderated by Oluwasayo Oshadami, Head, Technical Solutions, MainOne.
To underscore the benefits of the internet exchange, Kendall stated that his company has accessed more content by peering on AMS-IX Lagos than on IP transit links as the IX has reduced the cost of traffic required to access content that is locally available. Ben Nicklin, Director, Network Strategy and Interconnection, for Edgio, a content delivery network provider stated that the company enjoyed improved performance by peering at the Internet Exchange.
He highlighted the opportunity to serve other West African countries via peering from Lagos and hoped the AMS-IX Lagos platform would bridge this gap by connecting more networks across the region.
It is clear that the MDXi and AMS-IX partnership is reshaping West Africa’s digital landscape for the future with a proactive approach to content growth. By addressing these infrastructure challenges, the region can foster a thriving digital ecosystem and empower its vibrant youth population.
